Strong
by tiritharanya
Summary: After Petra awoke from a nightmare, she needed some comfort from her husband.


The _rushing wind tore at Petra's face as she rode with a group of her comrades across a field in search for her husband's team. A abnormal titan had been sighted in the area where he was scouting and they had requested for backup. Her own heavy breathing and the thundering hooves of the horses behind her were all that she could hear. "Did he say where the Titan came from?" She called out to the man who brought her the request. He rode up closer to her and nodded. "Northeast." He stated as he rode on past her, leading the way. Pained screams were heard as they neared the clearing where they were at. Her heart pounded as fear crept in. ' **What if he gets hurt? What if.**...' Her thoughts trailed off as she stopped abruptly in front of the scene before her. Blood stained the grass in large patches and several bodies were strewn along the clearing. Petra quickly dismounted her horse and ran up to a body with black hair, praying that it wasn't him. Her heart sank when she recognized his handsome face. Fear, pain, guilt, and disbelief washed over her as she stared frozen, at Levi's crumpled form. He had been slammed again a tree and his spine was snapped. His silver eyes were still open and filled with tears. "No" She whispered in disbelief as she fell to her knees beside his body. She shook him as the tears poured down her cheeks. "No! Wake up! Levi, please! Don't leave me, this isn't funny!" she all but screamed at him she tried to wake him up from his eternal sleep. It just didn't feel real to her. He couldn't be dead. Hr couldn't leave her...His eyes were glazed over and unfocused. "Please..." She grit her teeth and shook her head, closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to see her husband's body. All of a sudden, she felt a cold hand grip her arm. Her eyes snapped open and she stared at Levi. His sharp grey eyes bored into her soft brown ones. "Petra...why didn't you come sooner? I would still be alive!" He said as his grip on her arm tightened. "Why?" His eyes glazed back over and they slowly closed as his grip on her arm loosened. "No! Come back!" She cried out desperately._

Petra awoke with a jolt. She sat up in bed and looked over at her sleeping husband. He was laying there peacefully with his arm draped around her waist. She sighed and leaned down, kissing his cheek before gently moving his arm so that she could get up. She quietly got out of their bed and snuck down the hall to a large room with large tapestries of the survey corps crest adorning the cold, stone walls. She made herself some tea and sat down on a bench in the room to calm down and collect her thoughts. The nightmares were getting worse, and so was her paranoia over loosing him. A million different scenarios ran through her mind every day. Scenarios where something bad would happen to him and she couldn't save him. **'Why can't I be good enough? Why can't I ever save him...** ' She thought to herself as she sipped her hot tea. It was calming to her, as it reminded her of Levi. Someone once told her that if you really love someone, then you'll eventually have to let them go. But she just couldn't do that with him. It was impossible. She sat in silence, alone with her thoughts.

Levi groaned and rolled over in bed, feeling around for his wife before he fully woke up with a jolt when he realized that his sorce of human warmth was gone. The bed creaked as he sat up and held his head in his hands. "Again?" he mumbled as he looked at Petra's empty spot. He got up out of the bed and silently made his way down the hallway and into the large room with the tapestries where he knew that she was. He looked at her as she sat, holding her cup of tea with both hands while staring blankly off in the distance. She didn't notice him at first, as his position was angled in such a way that he was almost behind her.

"Really, Petra? This is your third night in a row, and it can't just be nothing. Stop lying to me and tell me the truth... What is the matter?" He said to her with his arms crossed. She jumped when she heard his voice and quickly whipped around to face him fully. "N- nothing! I'm fine, Levi." She lied with a false but reassuring smile. "Mhm." He deadpanned. "I've had a lot of experience with fake smiles...at least enough to recognize one when I see it." He said in a flat tone of voice. He knew that she was hiding something. and he wanted to know what was bothering her so much. "No, really... I'm fine...just a case of insomnia." she said convincingly. "And that's another lie as well." He said as he came up next to her and sat down on the bench beside her. "Now, what's the matter?" She looked down at the ground and sighed. "It's nothing...just some nightmares..." She mumbled. Levi nodded. God knew that he understood those...the men and women dying under his command haunted his thoughts all the time. He placed his hand on her shoulder and gently pulled her into an embarace. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She felt safe and content with him...and she didn't ever want that feeling to go away. They had been through hell and back together and bonded not only as husband and wife, but as soldiers who were comrades. She knew him better than anyone else just as he knew her better than anyone else. "I'm sorry I'm just... I'm just worried about you...I mean, we have a dangerous job and either one of us could be killed at any moment..." She murmured as he gently rubbed her back. "I know that...but we both made that choice...that our cause is more important than our lives.." He replied, running his fingers through her hair. She nodded. "Of course it is...but still...it gets hard when you watch everyone else around you die. Why do we get to live when so many others have given their lives? What right do we have to survive?" She asked him. "All of us have the right to survive. Some of us just don't have a chance to exercise it all the time." He reasoned. Petra was silent for a bit. "How can you be so strong?." she finally spoke up. She knew what he had been through before he met her. He would have to be a strong man in order not to loose his sanity through all of it. That was one of the reasons why she admired him so much. "Petra..." He breathed. "I'm really not...I may seem tough, but I just can't handle it any longer." He admitted. He closed his eyes as tears welled up in them. He shoved his emotions deep within him, and kept a mask of no feeling on in order to hide how he was feeling inside. Being guarded like this had served him well in life...kept him from getting hurt by others that he cared about. But the mask was slowly starting to shatter. "I can't." He let out a long sigh and composed himself. He couldn't be acting like this. Not in front of her, she said that he was strong. He needed to be strong for her. The tears spilled down his cheeks and Petra looked up at him and gently wiped them away. "Levi..." She whispered. "It's alright." She moved so she was sitting on his lap and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her small waist and did the same. **'God, what am I doing... I'm acting just like a needy child...** ' he thought. He was ashamed of himself. He was the husband, it was his job to protect her. He couldn't be weak. She kissed him gently on the cheek. It was an innocent gesture, but it still made him blush slightly. "I...I love you." He said before mentally slapping himself. **'Fantastic** **, now I'm stuttering.** ' "I love you too." came her soft reply. Levi relaxed slightly and gave her one of his rare smiles, feeling at ease with her. But he still didn't feel like he deserved her. She was an angel...Petra laid her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Tired?" Levi inquired. "No..." she protested "I'm not." He nodded and gently lifted her off of his lap. He stood up and took her hand, leading her down the hall and back to their bedroom.

Petra sat down on the edge of their bed and sighed. Levi sat next to her and smirked slightly. "You're exhausted." He said bluntly. This time she didn't argue with him. "Yeah." She admitted. "I am." He laid down and pulled her down with him. She giggled and tangled her fingers in his hair. Levi decided to make a move and kissed her passionately on the lips. Her cheeks flushed a deep shade of red as she kissed him back with equal passion. She parted her lips and he slipped his tongue into her mouth. She started to suck on it and Levi's facial expression changed. He trailed a hand down to her waist and pulled her closer to him as he gently bit her bottom lip. She blushed deeper and pulled back for air. He looked at her flustered face and smirked. "You're cute." he remarked. "No... I'm tired." She countered as she got comfortable. He nodded and pecked her lips before before whispering in her ear. "Another night, then?" Her entire face turned red. She buried her face in his shoulder as he chuckled. "Sweet dreams, Petra." She smiled and closed her eyes. Soon, she drifted off to sleep as her protector watched over her. After a little bit, he too fell asleep and they both had sweet dreams until the morning.


End file.
